Rochester Indymedia Launches Monthly Video Screenings

Why does the media hire generals to discuss the war in Iraq but not the doctors treating the wounded, nor historians and peace activists in order to give a full perspective on such a traumatic event? How else will people fully understand the complexity of the important issues of today unless they are given balanced viewpoints from a variety of sources?

These are just some of the questions raised by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! in the video Independent Media in a Time of War. The video was screened by Rochester Independent Media to open the first in their monthly series of free video screenings and public discussions on issues on modern media.

About thirty Rochester citizens attended the screening and discussion. There were students, members of several social activist groups, and concerned citizens who simply wished to know more about the accuracy of prime time news and large daily newspapers.

The event took place on Sunday April18th at theAll Purpose Room in the Public Market (280 N. Union Street)

The Event also included the screening of a short video by local Indymedia activist Dawn Zuppelli. Zuppelli's camera was aimed at police actions towards peaceful demonstrators at the World Bank/I.M.F. protests in Washington D.C. in September 2002, a view that was not presented on local TV stations.

The discussion began with a question from Indymedia activist Mike Costanza who observed that mainstream media, such as ABC, NBC and their affiliates, have not been showing images of dead or wounded soldiers nor images of the thousands of Iraqi dead and wounded. Costanza asked the group, "Is it an editorial decision due to the military mandated ban on such images? Or is it more a personal decision by the individual reporters?"

Responses from the group pointed to the issue of reporters being "embedded" with the troops, an issue also raised by Amy Goodman in the video. The issue was raised that the reporters come to depend on these soldiers, often literally for their own survival. This brings up serious questions on how objectively reporters can portray their protectors.

Another point brought up by the group was the case of the bombing of the Palestine Hotel, a Baghdad hotel housing international journalists who declined to be embedded with a US patrol and also refused to follow military censorship guidelines. Amy Goodman detailed the story of two Spanish news journalists killed from "friendly fire" during this bombing, with little to no coverage in the US media. Contrast this reaction to the actions of Spanish media, where journalists and camerapersons rallied in the Capital, laid down their cameras and pens and refused to cover a speech given by the Prime Minister.

Goodman also told of the bombing of the independent Arab news station Al Jazeera to further illustrate the rift between international journalists and US military. The station gave the US military exact coordinates of their office in Baghdad to protect their office from any accidental fire. The office was later destroyed by a US deployed guided missile.

Building on these issues, Amy Goodman cited a report by Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (F.A.I.R.) that charted the stories on Iraq during the week previous and following General Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations. The presentation was for the purpose of presenting proof of Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction. They found that out of 396 stories in the major presses, only three stories interviewed experts or citizens who questioned or opposed what Powell reported.

This brought up a parallel point by one of the participants, who questioned the breadth in local media coverage. He challenged the group to focus and act on local media issues. "For example," he cited, "out of all the stories on the proposed Renaissance Center, how many articles give voice to critics of the project?" There followed a consensus that we, as a community of concerned citizens, should take on some of the issues raised in the video Independent Media in a Time of War on the local level.

To provide a voice for local activism, Rochester Indymedia uses an open publishing website, located on their website.

After the success of this first screening and discussion, Rochester Indymedia looks to expand the number of participants at screenings. Future screenings will be held from 3-5pm every third Sunday of the month at the Public Market's All Purpose Room. Further information may be found on the Rochester Indymedia Calendar.